During his campaign, Donald Trump vowed to remake the federal government, promising to cut jobs, slash spending, end diversity and inclusion programs, and dismantle the Department of Education. Now, he’s chosen a slate of nominees for cabinet posts and other key positions who have a history of pushing back against the work of the departments and agencies they’ve been tapped to lead.
When Doug Burgum was governor of North Dakota, the state sued the Department of the Interior at least five times, ProPublica reported in partnership with the North Dakota Monitor. Trump selected Burgum to lead that same department. Meanwhile, Scott Turner, Trump’s nominee for secretary of Housing and Urban Development, has a history of voting against protections for poor tenants. And Trump’s choice to lead the Internal Revenue Service once supported legislation to abolish it entirely.
As confirmation hearings continue in the Senate, read through ProPublica’s reporting on how some of Trump’s selections could reshape federal agencies.
Doug Burgum, Department of the Interior
Doug Burgum, the former governor of North Dakota, has been confirmed as the secretary of the interior, which manages federal lands and natural resources.
North Dakota sued the same department at least five times, ProPublica and the North Dakota Monitor reported this month.
One of the lawsuits took aim at the agency’s rule that limited the amount of methane oil companies could release. Another targeted the department’s Public Lands Rule, which places conservation of public lands on equal footing with natural resource exploitation. Burgum did not respond to ProPublica’s request for comment, but he has previously said that many of the environmental policies of the administration of President Joe Biden posed “an existential threat to the energy and ag sectors, our economy and our way of life.”
Billy Long, Internal Revenue Service
Trump chose Billy Long, who represented Missouri in the U.S. House of Representatives for over a decade, to lead the Internal Revenue Service. Long previously supported legislation that would have abolished the agency altogether. Trump has said he wants to end “IRS overstepping” and issued an executive order that places a hiring freeze on the agency until the new Treasury secretary “determines that it is in the national interest to lift the freeze.”
Tax experts told ProPublica’s Jeremy Kohler and Alex Mierjeski last month that they believe Long doesn’t have the right credentials to oversee the agency. Long, who didn’t respond to ProPublica’s request for comment, labeled himself as a certified tax and business advisor, or CTBA, on the social network X. That designation — which tax experts told ProPublica they hadn’t heard about — is offered only by a small, Florida-based firm after the completion of a three-day seminar.
Scott Turner, Department of Housing and Urban Development
Trump nominated Scott Turner to lead the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees federal efforts to provide housing assistance to low-income residents. But, as ProPublica’s Jesse Coburn and Andy Kroll reported in December, Turner has previously opposed legislation that would provide aid and protections for poor tenants.
During his time in the Texas House of Representatives, Turner opposed legislation to expand affordable rental housing in the state and endorsed a bill to allow landlords to turn down applicants because they received federal housing assistance. Turner has also previously described welfare as “one of the most destructive things for a family.”
A spokesperson for Turner told ProPublica in December: “Of course ProPublica would try and paint a negative picture of Mr. Turner before he is even given the opportunity to testify. We would expect nothing less from a publication that solely serves as a liberal mouthpiece.”
Paul Atkins, Securities and Exchange Commission
Paul Atkins is Trump’s choice to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission. Atkins, who worked as an SEC commissioner under George W. Bush before serving as the co-chair of a crypto advocacy group, will be responsible for regulating Trump’s own publicly traded company.
Current and former SEC officials told ProPublica’s Justin Elliott, Robert Faturechi and Mierjeski in December that they worried the agency wouldn’t aggressively regulate Trump Media, which has previously tangled with the commission. Trump’s crypto investments — which include a Trump-affiliated token by a company called World Liberty Financial and a memecoin known as $Trump launched days before his second inauguration — could also come into conflict with the agency.
Under Biden, SEC chair Gary Gensler led a crackdown on crypto. On the campaign trail, Trump promised to deregulate the industry.
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, National Institutes of Health
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services, has said he wants to dedicate half of the National Institutes of Health’s budget toward “preventive, alternative and holistic approaches to health.” Kennedy has also said he wants to replace 600 employees at the NIH.
Stanford Professor Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, if confirmed as the head of the NIH, would get to appoint the next director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which plays a key role in researching infectious diseases and developing treatments. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bhattacharya became a vocal critic of how then-NIAID Director Anthony Fauci handled the federal response. He also helped author the Great Barrington Declaration, which argued against restrictions for those “at minimal risk of death” until herd immunity is reached.
Experts and advocates told ProPublica’s Anna Maria Barry-Jester this month that overhauling the NIH’s and NIAID’s work could deter research and hamstring the development of future treatments. Bhattacharya declined an interview request.
David Fotouhi, Environmental Protection Agency
Trump tapped lawyer David Fotouhi for the second highest role at the Environmental Protection Agency. If confirmed by the Senate, he’ll be the deputy administrator under Lee Zeldin, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives chosen to lead the agency.
This month, ProPublica’s Sharon Lerner reported that Fotouhi played a critical role in pushing to roll back climate regulations while working as a lawyer in the department during Trump’s first term. He has since worked on a lawsuit challenging the EPA’s water quality standards for PCBs, toxic chemicals linked to some cancers. In October, Fotouhi, who declined to comment to ProPublica, challenged the EPA’s ban on the cancer-causing substance asbestos.
